Top 23 Travel Tips For Taking A Summer Road Trip
Planning a summer road trip this year? Do movies like RV and Family Vacation not scare you from the adventures that could await you on your cross country trek? Before you go, make sure you check off these top 23 travel tips.
Look at maps and plan your route. There are many great online maps that do a HYBRID map view showing real streets and routes with satalite images. Knowing the location, and how it looks, by viewing it from space is both cool and very helpful, so you won’t get lost.
Research the roads you’ll take. You’ll especially want to know if you’ll be traveling through areas of major road construction. The maps mentioned above are a little dated. Some new roads and maps will not have current, realtime data, bring physical maps, like ones you could buy from AAA along.
Make estimates of travel times along the route, so you’ll have an idea when you’ll be at certain points on your trip. This will help you to plan rest and meal stops. It will also help you plan to avoid traveling through a major city or area of road construction during rush hour.
Get the car checked, especially the filters, belts, fluid levels and have the oil changed. Don’t wait until the last minute, it may take time to get an appointment and parts may need to be ordered. You also want some time to drive around town and make sure that whatever they fixed stays fixed. If you vehicle is ‘mission critical’ and could die at any moment, DON’T take it with you, borrow a friends car instead.
Check the condition of your wiper blades, both front and back windows.
Check the operation of your turn signals, brake lights as well as the high and low beams. Bring some extra fuses along.
Examine the tread on your tires. Consider mountain driving in winter conditinos on snowy peaks. Make sure you have chains or 4×4 traction for icey roads, out of season. Or try a different route.
Make sure your car is prepared for the weather it will encounter on your trip. You might need more antifreeze or need to recharged air-conditioning when you go through the desert.
Today, many cars have fancy wheels instead of hubcaps. These wheels usually have a lock to prevent them from being stolen. If you have a car with wheel locks, make sure you know where the key is stored (often with the jack). Otherwise, a flat tire will become a major problem since you won’t be able to get the wheel off the car.
Get your car cleaned. You’ll feel better in a clean car.
Pack an emergency kit in your car. Include motion sickness medication if anyone in your group suffers from it. Remove any items from the car that you won’t need on your trip. Bring some blankets.
Prepare some on road entertainment for your trip. Include games and CDs of music and/or audio books. Portable DVD players are really inexpensive and help pass the time in dead spots where where is nothing new to see.
Check your plates, registration and insurance information to make sure they are all valid. Be sure to place your insurance company’s emergency contact number in your car.
Check with all the drivers in your party to make sure their driver’s licenses haven’t expired.
Check your insurance for expiration dates and coverage for your automobile.
Arrange for someone to start your other car, if you leave one home, during very cold or very hot weather.
Fill the car with gas before you pack the car so all the fumes won’t bother your passengers. Check the fluid levels and tire pressure, your tire pressure will affect the ride and gas mileage you get on your trip.
Pack the car inside the garage, with the door down, so people driving by won’t find out you’re leaving.
Overall, enjoy the road trip. It’s not going to be as crazy as Clark W Grizwold’s family vacation experiences, and if it is, make sure you video it and put it up on You Tube!
Home Buying Readiness Checklist
Too often, people plunge into the decision to buy a house without thinking about long-term changes it will make to their life. There’s a right time to buy a house, and this points not just to financial readiness but also to emotional readiness. Going through a simple home-buying readiness checklist can help you determine whether you’re ready for this or not.Item #1: Have you checked your finances recently?
Financial readiness is obviously at the top of the list because no matter how emotionally or mentally prepared you are to buy a home, being able to afford it is still going to be a major consideration. Are you financially ready to buy a house? Take a look at how much you owe versus how much you make. Take a look at your financial status at the end of the month. Do you always end up short on money no matter how much money you make? Try to really look at your spending habits and see if you have a problem in that area. If you’re not sure how to determine that, list down all the things you spend money on every day and see where the money trail leads you. People who have not confronted their money problems usually have a hard time making monthly mortgage payments.Item #2: Have you decided where to look for a house yet?
Let’s say for example that you are thinking of buying South Charlotte real estate. Looking for a house that fits your requirements starts with finding the right neighborhood. Checking out South Charlotte homes for sale in a neighborhood that has good schools, is close to police and fire stations, and has good, accessible roads is a great start.Item #3: Have you gotten preapproved for a loan yet?
Getting preapproval for a loan is important because you need to know whether you are financially qualified for a loan. It is not an ironclad agreement between you and the lender. Not just yet. But it would give you an edge in terms of negotiations, and you’d want that when you find a property you want to make an offer on.Item #4: Have you thought about ongoing costs?
There are a lot of ongoing costs for home owners. Have you factored that into your future budget? Some people who have rented a house prior to owning one have no idea what things they would probably need to prepare money for in terms of ongoing maintenance for the house. It would be useful if you talked to family and friends who own a house and ask them what their usual ongoing costs are aside from insurance.Item #5: Have you saved enough for all upfront costs?
The biggest of all upfront costs you probably have to deal with is the downpayment, but aside from that, there’s also a host of other closing costs that you need to factor in to your savings plan. Lenders will give you a good faith estimate of how much you can prepare for the closing costs but it’s always advisable to save more than that to give you breathing room in case some costs go up and you need to cough up some extra cash.
3 Interesting Wall Decor Ideas To Make Your Home Unique
One of the most important aspects of decorating is making sure that you have interesting wall decor to accentuate your theme. These days, you don’t have to limit yourself to a few picture frames or paintings, so if you really want to create an interesting look in your house, then dispense with the idea of hanging up family photos and stuffy old oil paintings and consider some of the ideas below.Architectural ElementsOne of my favorite ways to decorate the wall is by using architectural elements. By this I mean old doors, wrought iron gates, corbels, porch pieces – anything that you might normally find on the outside of the house can add depth and interest to your inside walls. When it comes to architectural elements, the more wear the piece has and the chippier the paint, the better! This aging and wear gives character to the piece and adds interest.These days, you don’t have to go to salvage yards or dumps to find this type of wall decor. In fact you can buy new items that are made to look like old architectural pieces. My personal favorite are wrought iron pieces that look like old gates or fences. These go with a wide range of decorating themes and look great on your walls.Wall SculpturesToday, you don’t have to put your modern art sculptures on a pedestal to be admired because there are plenty of fine wall art sculptures that you can hang on the walls. Usually these are metal or a mixture of metal and wood and have a contemporary appeal. Wall sculptures are three-dimensional and stick out a bit from the wall adding depth and interest. Modern, contemporary, eclectic and zen type decorating themes can benefit from these the most.Wall Stencils Or MuralsIf you really want to make a huge statement in your room, then you might want to opt for a wall stencil or mural. Some of these murals can take up the whole wall and have a realistic look to them. I love the ones that look like french doors opening up into a beautiful garden or view of the sea.Stencils are a bit more artsy than murals and can give your room a handmade look. I’ve seen some great stencils that look like rock walls with vines and ivy. If you are the least bit creative, then stencils will allow you to exercise that creativity to make a piece of wall art which you can enjoy every day as well as show off to your guests.Wall murals and stencils go with a variety of decorating themes including old world, shabby chic, french country and even some contemporary styles.There are many other types of interesting wall decor you can use to liven up a room, but the three listed above are a great place to start looking. Depending on your decorating theme, you should be able to find something to match. Decorating your walls properly will help tie your room decor together and give your home a professional, finished look.
Top Ideas for Beautiful Wall Decor
Having a beautiful home with amazingly decorated walls is what every stylish woman, and man, could ever want in their adult life. However, it can be a time-consuming project and can be quite the job. Some people will hire professionals for all their wall decor needs, but many can do it by themselves. For the people that end up doing it by themselves, there are so many wonderful things you can do to spruce up that bare wall of yours. You can make some of the most plain room into a beautiful masterpiece. So, in order to have some of the most beautiful wall decor in any room, here are some top ideas to make it all happen.• Adding wallpapers to your plain colored walls can add a whole new look to your room. There are so many different types and textures of wallpapers, so picking the right one for your wall will be a fun project for you. Don’t stick to just one. Match up some colorful wallpapers, for a funky, modern look.• Adding a large clock to your wall will make for such marvelous wall decor. They can be quite expensive, but is well worth it in the decoration area. Large clocks come in so many different shapes and colors. Picking just one is the hard part.• If you are a mother, one amazing way to brighten up your walls can be by framing your child’s artwork, or you can even take them and convert the paintings onto any kind of fabric and framing it. You can make special wall hangings and add the artwork to them and hang them up on your walls. This type of wall decor will be beautiful and have great meaning to it.• Mirrors are great ways to make your room look larger. Mirrors can make for some beautiful decor in any room. You can use many different sizes for just one wall. Arrange them, according to your preference. They can also be mixed with other wall hangings you have chosen.• Candles have been womens favorite decoration for years now. Adding them to any room will make the whole house smell amazing. So, adding them as wall decor will just add to the benefits. Candles come in many colors, so you can find the best one to fit your color scheme of your wall decor. Pick out your favorite sconces and hang, then add your favorite candle.• One great idea for wall decor is to hang some simple art work to it. Pick a section of the wall and add some of your favorite framed artwork. Make sure they match, you don’t want a bunch of scattered artwork up there. They at least have to have the same color pattern or be of the same subject.• Making collages for your walls can add for a very interesting and different look to your wall. collages can be made from your families photo’s, or of some of your favorite color patterns. Collages can also be of your favorite quotes. Pick colors that would match your room. One favorite is sticking to black and white. It adds for a modern wall decor look.The ideas and possibilities are endless when it comes to wall decor. With whatever color and style you choose, you can add any of these ideas to your wall for a beautiful decor scheme. Be careful and try and stick to just one scheme. You can maybe incorporate two of them, depending on what you choose. If not, it may result in a very cluttered look. If you go with some of these ideas, your wall is sure to look beautiful in no time.
Wall Stickers – Removable Wall Decor
There have been various fads for wall decor over the past decade. In the 90s, it was wall stenciling and before that it was wallpaper. Both of these options were very permanent decor options and when it comes to decorating a room that is most likely going to be changing within a year or two, these options are not ideal.Instead of pasting paper to your walls, which is virtually impossible to remove later in life or painting on your walls, there is another option available to you. For instance, you can try a new and contemporary method of decor called wall stickers. This type of removable wall decor allows you a lot more flexibility later in the life of a particular room in your home.There are several instances in life when you will be decorating a room that is not necessarily going to have this same decor for a long period of time. For instance, you just had a new baby so you want to do your new baby’s nursery in a cute Winnie the Pooh or other Disney character design. So, you paint the walls and put up a wallpaper border, or you do the entire room in Winnie the Pooh wallpaper. Or, perhaps you do an entire wall mural of the “Hundred Acre Wood” in paint on the wall. But, what do you do when your little boy or girl decides that they are much more interested in Transformers or Barbie? Do you rip down the wallpaper and hope that you can salvage your walls? Do you cover up the paint with more paint?Instead of having to worry about repainting walls or tearing down wallpaper, you could make life and your decorating much easier on yourself. You have several options with removable wall decor, or wall stickers. This removable wall decor is available in all of your child’s favorite designs. You also have the option of wall murals, so no painting is needed, nor is an artist. You can choose from a wide variety of borders and other decor as well. If your child is a Disney fan, self-stick wall appliqués provide you with a number of different Disney and Pixar characters to select from. All are easy to put and made of heavy duty vinyl that they can peel and stick whenever the desire.As your child grows, their tastes change. They enjoy a variety of different cartoons, movies, and even sports teams. They will probably even want to change their room’s decor once every couple of years or so. This cannot only get very expensive throughout their life, but it is a time consuming process to paint, repaint and wallpaper the same room repeatedly. Removable wall decor makes it easy for them to decorate their own room. With removable wall decor, you can provide your child with a blank wall and some wall stickers and let them have at it. You can even find wall sticker growth charts so that you can track your child’s growth without having to write on the walls or make notches in the doorframe.One of the many benefits of wall decor is that you don’t have to worry about the wall stickers leaving any residue. They stick to virtually any flat surface in their room, which allows your children to be as creative as they want. Your child can change the room everyday if they want. With borders, wall murals, and appliqués to choose from, they will have the flexibility of not only what designs they want, but they can decorate any way they want.In addition, they can create a unique photomural of photos on their wall as well. These are removable wall décor that provide you with various options including wall pockets and photo frames. These allow your children to frame photos of them, their friends and family all over their walls. Wall pockets provide them with a way to store all of their little trinkets or display items on their walls.If you’re interested an easier way to decorate and keep up with your child’s ever-changing decor tastes, you can keep up with them by using removable wall decor. Removable wall decor does not cost any more than what you would pay for wallpaper or paint. It’s an affordable way to decorate and you can reuse the wall decals for up to two years or more.
The Role of Recreational Therapy in Mental Health Treatment
Recreational Therapy has become a popular component of treatment for many health fields, including mental health. The American Therapeutic Recreation Association defines it as “a treatment service designed to restore, remediate and rehabilitate a person’s level of functioning and independence in life activities, to promote health and wellness as well as reduce or eliminate the activity limitations and restrictions to participation in life situations caused by an illness or disabling condition.” (American Therapeutic Recreation Association, July 2009) Recreational Therapy services are provided in a variety of mental health treatment settings, including inpatient, outpatient, and residential care. Certified therapists have earned at least a bachelor’s degree in the field and have passed national certification exam.
Recreational Therapists use a variety of techniques to help alleviate symptoms of mental illness and improve the quality of a consumer’s life. Leisure education is often provided, which can help consumers identify what types of leisure they are interested in and find community resources for participation. Many people who are experiencing symptoms of a mental illness have lost touch with their leisure lifestyles or have become socially isolated. Leisure education can also improve social skills to enhance enjoyment and enable consumers to build better relationships. Many Recreational Therapists also use recreation participation as a treatment modality. Therapists will engage in leisure activities with the consumer to improve leisure skills and practice social skills in the moment. In a group setting, therapists will use leisure based activity to explore patterns of behavior and teach healthy coping skills.
In treating mental health, Recreational Therapy can be a versatile treatment addressing various issues. Leisure activity can provide improved daily structure when participating in activities such as volunteer work, classes, or social groups. Certain leisure activities also provide opportunities for social interaction and support. Physical activities and exercise can help improve your mood. Exercise and other leisure activities also can provide a sense of accomplishment. Many of the concepts reinforced in Recreational Therapy align with cutting edge treatments like Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). The skills of mindfulness, regular participation in pleasant events, and building mastery are all core components in both DBT and Recreational Therapy. Finally, leisure involvement can provide a sense of purpose and meaning in one’s life, as well as strengthening individual identity or one’s sense of who they are. A Recreational Therapist can motivate and guide someone experiencing mental health difficulties to leisure that provides the specific benefits suited to their needs. Recreational Therapy services are included in most high quality mental health programs.
The Benefits and Challenges of Behavioral Health Treatment
The term Behavioral Health was coined almost 40 years ago. However, over time, the meaning of this word has evolved. Most people use behavioral health as a synonym for mental health, whereas there is a difference between the two.
Mental health deals with a person’s mental state or psychology but behavioral health deals with the habits a person possesses, such as eating patterns, sleeping patterns, the lifestyle choices they make. etc. If a person struggles with a mental health issue, it can be comorbid with behavioral health problems and physical health issues. According to estimates, 70 percent mental health issues exist in correlation with behavioral health issues. Therefore behavioral health treatment centers or services have become essential to combat the disease.
According to a study, around 44 million people struggle from mental health-related problems every year but only 40 percent of these are able to receive treatment. There are several reasons that contribute to people not seeking help for mental disorders. While 60 percent of the people do not seek treatment because of the associated social stigma, others do not seek treatment as they remain undiagnosed, do not have the money, lack the access to a reliable mental health facility, or do not have credible behavioral health centers near them.
Behavioral Health Services
Behavioral health services are not limited to mental health treatment programs. With its evolving scope, the range of services offered has only increased. Some of these services include:
Psychiatric
Psychology
Mental health counseling
Family and marriage counseling
Substance abuse treatment including prevention, recovery and intervention
Chronic disease management
Understanding Behavioral Health
Behavioral health refers to the relationship between daily habits (good and bad) and how they affect physical and mental health. Ideally, good habits (healthy eating, exercise, and sleep patterns) lead to a balance between good physical and mental health. On the contrary, bad habits often lead to poor physical and mental health.
Based on lifestyle choices made, behavioral disorders might include:
Living in unhygienic conditions
Eating disorder
Social isolation
Sleep disorder (sleeping too less or too much)
Substance abuse including drug, alcohol or chemical dependency
Addictive behavior such as gambling, sex, compulsive shopping, etc.
Why It Is So Difficult To Seek Treatment?
Most people do not seek help for behavioral disorders because they remain in denial. It is difficult for them to accept that they have a problem. Some people believe that it is a choice that they have made and therefore it cannot be called a problem. The reasons for not seeking treatment can be myriad and varied. Some of the other reasons may include:
Social Stigma and embarrassment
Fear of getting judged by society
Not being able to recognize symptoms effectively
Lack of trust and support
Feelings of loneliness and hopelessness
What Are The Benefits Of Seeking Treatment?
Behavioral health disorders are complex and require customized treatment, but it is difficult to convince patients to seek treatment. However, knowing about the benefits of treatment can provide the needed nudge to seek treatment. The advantages of seeking treatment are as follows:
Improves quality of life
Combats mental illness from its root
Improves personal and professional relationships
Reduces chances of complications especially for addiction-related problems
Improves productivity
Mitigates risk of medical issues
What Are The Treatment Options Available?
A treatment plan for behavioral health disorder may be a combination of the multiple therapies, the most important of which would be group therapy. Encouragement and support groups provide personal therapy that helps the patient understand themselves and their goals better. Group therapy also provides patients with contacts of others who have or are facing similar problems. Interacting with such persons helps the patient realize that they are not alone. It also provides them with the required moral support to take care of themselves and seek and continue treatment. However, the customized treatment programs require an effort from multiple types of professionals. These professionals may include:
Psychiatrists: These service providers can address a wide range of issues. They deal with psychiatry on various aspects such as adolescence issues, childhood struggles, or substance abuse. They prescribe medications to treat behavioral health disorders.
Psychologists: These professionals have experience in psychology consulting. This also includes clinical psychology. They carry out diagnostic work and conduct psychotherapy to treat the patient’s condition.
Social workers: They assist through government run programs. They work in a variety of fields related to children mental health, substance abuse, and mental health in the less privileged society.
Licensed professional counselors: These counselors usually specialize in treating patients with psychotherapy. These professionals may focus on specific areas of behavioral health, such as family problems, substance abuse, and relationship issues.
Residential treatment centers: These are inpatient treatment centers where people are allowed to reside under 24/7 medical supervision. The patients undergo a personalized treatment plan as per the severity and duration of the disorder. These centers provide a controlled environment for the treatment and combat relapse.
When To Seek Help?
Behavioral health disorders should never be undermined. They should be identified at the earliest otherwise it will affect the patient’s relationship and productivity as they grow into adults. Behavioral abnormalities have affected lives. There are numerous treatment programs available to treat the disorder.
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